Sunday October 3, 2021; 10:04 AM EDT
- During the Q & A after a London book tour talk by Clay Shirky not long after the 2008 release of Here Comes Everybody, an audience member told a story I remember going something like this:#
- I had a contractor renovate our kitchen and the work was very poorly done. I asked for changes and the contractor blew me off. So I opened up a blog site and posted a detailed account of the shoddy work, with pictures and naming the contractor.#
- Then I invited the contractor to view the site. He didn't understand the dynamics of the web, didn't know that for the time being almost nobody would likely find the blog, and he freaked out. He came back and got back to work on the kitchen.#
- This story came to mind this morning in the final minute of a radio piece about OSHA's impact, where employers are said not to mind so much the fines OSHA gives them as the stern press releases and bad publicity:#
- "Employers told us OSHA penalties are generally not very much. They are really just a part of doing business. What [they] really don't like is having our names in the press." #
- The final moment of the audio version, starting at 2:00 or 2:30, tells this part of the story more directly than the written version.#